Lakers survive Magic in OT, take 2-0 lead

Lisa DillmanLos Angeles Times

The Lakers survived a wildly inconsistent performance, a barrage of three-pointers and the fickle nature of overtime to move within two games of their franchise's 15th NBA championship, defeating the Orlando Magic, 101-96, on Sunday night in overtime.

They used a 7-0 run to open overtime to secure the victory, aided by three costly Magic turnovers. Orlando didn't score in overtime until JJ Redick's layup with 56.7 seconds remaining.

This one very nearly didn't get to overtime. The Magic had a shot at winning Game 2 and tying the series with 0.6 remaining in regulation when Hedo Turkoglu hit Courtney Lee with a picture perfect in-bounds pass, an alley-oop, and Lee missed the layup just to the left of the basket.

That was the final twist to a wild end of regulation at Staples Center. The Lakers, earlier, couldn't have had a more ideal winning scenario: the ball in the hands of Kobe Bryant in the waning seconds. But Turkoglu made a stellar defensive play, blocking Bryant's shot from behind with a strong swipe with his right hand.

If Game 1 featured non-stop offense, a tenacious defensive effort from the Lakers and a standout performance from Bryant, then Game 2 at Staples Center had little in common with the opener of the Finals.

The Lakers, who won the opener by 25 points, lead the series, 2-0, and the Finals move to Orlando for Game 3 on Tuesday. They survived a 34-point effort from Rashard Lewis, who hit six three-pointers, and Turkoglu's 22 points.

Bryant, who had 40 points in Game 1, added 29 points, was joined in his effort by Pau Gasol (24 points) and Lamar Odom, who was the difference-maker off the bench. Odom had 19 points and eight of those came in the fourth quarter, and he added eight rebounds.

The fierceness of Bryant has been offset by the easy-going nature of Odom, the man called the glue of the Laker lockerroom. He was so at ease less than an hour before the game he spent time telling reporters about his childhood days in Queens, joking that his two cousins toughened him up by "pushing me down."

Those days, of course, are long over.

"6-10, 240 pounds," Odom said, referring to himself. "None of that no more."

In the fourth quarter, the Magic looked about as ill-equipped to deal with him as Odom's cousins. Odom scored eight of the Lakers' first 10 points of the final quarter before the Magic righted things to turn the final minutes into a see-saw battle.

Orlando's big three _ Dwight Howard, Lewis and Turkoglu _ finally showed up after having gone missing in Game 1. They combined for just six field goals in that one and got untracked on Sunday.

Lewis got going first, and then was joined by Turkoglu and Howard in the second half. Lewis had 20 points in the first half, 18 of them coming in the second quarter.

He handed the baton to Turkoglu in the third quarter. Turkoglu scored 14 points in the third to give the Magic a 65-63 lead heading into the fourth.

Howard, who finished with 17 points, did not get untracked offensively until the second half and finally broke free for his first dunk of the series, coming with 5:29 remaining in the third quarter